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AIBU?

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Original poster

To say no to our buyer

165 replies

Flev · 16/07/2020 13:07

We are in the process of selling our house. We accepted an offer just before lockdown (following 3 visits by the buyers and their parents) but our buyers have moved at a speed that makes a slug look like an Olympic sprinter

2 weeks ago we finally had a surveyor round for their mortgage.

Now this morning we get a call asking if the male buyer and his dad can come and visit again as they think this will be quicker than getting a survey done for themselves.

AIBU to say no?

1 they're clearly not actually bothered about speed or they might have done something about it 4 months ago! We suspect they just don't want to pay for the survey
2 the buyer and his dad are 2 separate households - government guidance for house viewings is very clearly limited members of immediate household only
3 when they came for previous viewings they took ages (small 2 bed terrace) and touched everything. I cant see that changing. And our rooms are so small there's no way they can social distance in them.
4 the only person we've let in the house since lockdown started is the surveyor for their mortgage.

We are sticking pretty strictly to government guidelines as we have a close family member who has been shielding but has felt comfortable to see us briefly outdoors in the last couple of weeks since they know we've kept ourselves with as little contact as possible.

Am i just being grumpy and should find a way of dealing with this to just try and get the blasted deal done, or has their CF-ness now reached the stage where we are justified in telling them to just pay for a survey - or that we will accommodate just one of them?

OP posts:
RHRA · 16/07/2020 15:41

@JinglingHellsBells

The more I think of this *@Flev* the more odd it is.

Where are you in your buying process?

Are you having a proper survey done?

No one I know, including my DS as a FTB not long ago, could get a mortgage without the lender seeing a survey report - and that doesn't count family members looking around.

Totally agree with you.
Standardy · 16/07/2020 15:42

It's a huge decision and commitment, I wouldn't say a few visits and delays during lockdown were unreasonable. I wish we had looked twice before buying because it turns out, despite having had all of the survey's done properly it's a shit hole. Not saying yours is, but I think it actually suggests they are probably more serious.

2bazookas · 16/07/2020 15:43

If you cancel the sale, you then have to put the house back on the market and (if you're lucky) allow far more people in to view it, do mortgage surveys etc.

Or if you're unlucky, the housing market falls through the floor as the economy tanks/unemployment rises/ there's a second worse wave of covid, , you won't get any new interest at all. Then the original buyers
know you're desperate and come back with a much lower offer than your current deal. An offer you darent refuse.

Best to stick with the deal you've got.    If the pair come back  for another look,   warn them in advance  that  they must wear  disposable gloves and masks at all time, provided by you so you know they are clean.  They may spend no more  than 30 mins  inside the house and any conversations, questions etc with you will take place outside in the garden.
JinglingHellsBells · 16/07/2020 15:44

You need a survey to get a mortgage because if the house is overvalued (by your agent) the mortgage provider will query it and reduce the loan if there is any structural work that needs repairs and it's a bargaining tool for the buyer anyway.

A Dad on behalf of the son won't cut it unless he is a CS and will provide a formal, professional survey.

JaniceWebster · 16/07/2020 15:46

it doesn’t mean you can mess people around.

I don't agree that wanting to see more than once a property you are buying is messing anyone around

Onmyown1 · 16/07/2020 15:47

If a bank/building society has carried out a valuation and there was any slight doubt regarding damp, roof etc they would ask for a timber and damp report, roof report or structural engineers report. These would all need to be done by properly qualified people and the reports would be checked by the bank/building society and their valuers. I would ask them exactly what they need to come round for.

Original poster
Flev · 16/07/2020 15:47

For people asking where we are, we have our mortgage approved, all the searches back, our survey done and we're happy with it all, and no outstanding questions with solicitors. We're ready to exchange.but can't do until our buyers are also there, as our purchase depends on our sale.

OP posts:
JinglingHellsBells · 16/07/2020 15:48

Bloody hell- why aren't people reading what the OP wrote! They have seen it three times!

JinglingHellsBells · 16/07/2020 15:49

They need a survey.

Not a look around by the Dad.

You surely had to have a survey for yours OP?

JinglingHellsBells · 16/07/2020 15:50

@Onmyown1 A surveyor from the BS would not be looking in the loft, checking the boiler, looking for damp etc etc. They give a once-over as a valuation.

TimeWastingButFun · 16/07/2020 15:50

It sounds like his Dad has some sort of experience so why not let them come and help speed them up.

Standardy · 16/07/2020 15:51

I don't think 3 times is excessive, if I were them i would pull out and see what the market is like in a few months though to be honest. If you have issue with them then put it back on the market or just accept they want to see it again tbh.

JinglingHellsBells · 16/07/2020 15:51

You need to get onto their solicitors, via yours, and ask questions.

When we moved, we did everything in 4 weeks on our side, our buyers said they were ready to go, when in fact they didn't even have a mortgage agreed.

Original poster
Flev · 16/07/2020 15:53

As far as I know the person who came round to do the valuation (who said she was a surveyor) has done everything the lender requires in terms of survey to agree the mortgage (we still don't know if it has been agreed of not). But the lender doesn't share the results of that with the buyer, hence this bit is about them either getting a survey for their own knowledge (as we have done on the one we are buying) or relying on Dad.

OP posts:
Alsohuman · 16/07/2020 15:53

@JinglingHellsBells

You need a survey to get a mortgage because if the house is overvalued (by your agent) the mortgage provider will query it and reduce the loan if there is any structural work that needs repairs and it's a bargaining tool for the buyer anyway.

A Dad on behalf of the son won't cut it unless he is a CS and will provide a formal, professional survey.

What part of the mortgage survey has already been done don’t you understand?
TinkersRucksack · 16/07/2020 15:58

What can they do that a (trained and highly qualified) surveyor cannot?

Onmyown1 · 16/07/2020 15:58

@JinglingHellsBells no they wouldn’t but if they see any sign of damp etc they would request further reports as otherwise it isn’t suitable security for the mortgage. If they wanted everything checked they should of requested a full building or homebuyers survey.

Viviennemary · 16/07/2020 16:00

If you want to sell the house you need to say yes.

JinglingHellsBells · 16/07/2020 16:01

@Alsohuman The bit where the OP says she gave the incorrect terms- that's which bit.

She isn't sure if the survey done at the start was a valuation survey or a building survey.

Which bit of the thread do you not understand?

JinglingHellsBells · 16/07/2020 16:03

and also @Alsohuman why on earth would the Dad come to do a survey if it had been done already?

WhoEatsPopTarts · 16/07/2020 16:03

Ex EA here, I would allow this with the safety proviso you’re happy with only after the mortgage has been approved and not before. Once the lender has had their valuation in, your buyer doesn’t have a leg to stand on if they attempt to reduce the price. Your EA should have advised you of this, remember they work for you. Sometimes a family member giving it the once over in place of a survey can work in your favour as they don’t know what they’re looking for, but sometimes they overcompensate and ask a million questions. All irrelevant if the lenders valuation is ok.

Kasparovski · 16/07/2020 16:04

No no and no again. They’ve had their viewings ffs. I wouldn’t offer anything now until after exchange. Professional survey only or no survey. Absolute piss takers,

JaniceWebster · 16/07/2020 16:06

Bloody hell- why aren't people reading what the OP wrote! They have seen it three times!

so? it's hardly excessive when you spend hundred of thousand of pounds.

lovemelongtime · 16/07/2020 16:07

You need a proper survey to get a mortgage - just having a look round wont do the trick - think they are time wasting. I would check with the estate agents

MaggieFS · 16/07/2020 16:07

Sounds like they only got a valuation rather than a homebuyers and think Dad will make up for it. Fair enough if a bit annoying given the number of times they've been round already but it doesn't excuse the speed or lack of, at which they are going. That's poor. Rather than put the house back on the market, perhaps the EA could softly message you might lose your purchase if they don't hurry up, to apply some gentle time pressure.